Israeli researchers teach micro-robots to scale obstacles and carry living bacteria

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a new approach that allows microscopic robots to move between multiple surfaces in three-dimensional space, overcoming a longstanding limitation in micro-robotics that has confined many such devices to traveling along a single surface. The study, led by doctoral student Ido Rachbuch, researcher Dr. Sinwook Park and Prof. Gilad Yossifon of Tel Aviv University's School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering, was published in the journal Nature Communications. Micro-robots, typically measuring about 10 to 30 microns — roughly the size of a biological cell — cannot be equipped with motors, batteries or onboard control systems like conventional robots because of their small size. Instead, they rely on external fields for propulsion and control, making them "off-board" robots.